" Barkers Delight" 9 1 



' (Admissible, by stress of courtesy, and 

 for the sake of that ' pleasant River with 

 silver streams ' that the old writer would 

 fain have in his orchard, and wherein he 

 might * angle a freckled trout, sleighty 

 eel, or some other dainty Fish ')." 



"BARKER'S DELIGHT." 



Between Lawson and Walton came a 

 quaint and very original little work, 

 Barker's Delight. Old Barker was evi- 

 dently a first-rate trout-fisher, and his book 

 has special interest for the fly-fisher,* 

 for reasons -which I shall presently men- 

 tion. If Barker had called his work 

 Barker's Angling, or, as he might ap- 

 propriately enough have done, Barker's 

 Trout- Fishing, it would have attracted 

 much more attention than it has received. 

 An author never makes a greater mistake 

 than when he uses as the leading title of 

 his book some phrase or expression or 

 word which conveys no idea of the con- 

 tents. It does not matter how full the 



* Here is a hint from Barker which may be 

 of assistance to some amateur maker of fishing- 

 flies for dry-fly fishing : 



" Once more, my good brother, I'll speak in thy 



ear; 



Hog's, red cow's, and bear's wool, to float best 

 appear." 



